Vietnamese shares dropped for the third straight session on Thursday but the recovery of large-caps at the end of trading session helped narrow the market’s decline.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HOSE) fell 0.43 per cent to close at 950.08 points.

The southern market index lost 0.82 per cent on Wednesday.

More than 142.8 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth VND3.3 trillion (US$141 million).

Declining stocks outnumbered gainers by 163 to 113 on the southern market while 66 others were unchanged.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index edged down 0.06 per cent to end at 103.50 points.

The HNX-Index shed 0.38 per cent in the previous day.

More than 22.2 million shares were traded on the northern market, worth VND269 billion.

“Market liquidity remains low, indicating that cash flow still stands outside the market, showing low internal strength of the market,” Bao Viet Securities Company (BVSC) said in its daily report.

Shares plunged in the morning due to weak demand but in the afternoon, many large-cap stocks recovered and prevented the market from falling further. Gainers included Vietcombank (VCB), PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS), Vinhomes (VHM), Tien Phong Bank (TPB).

VCB rebounded 0.4 per cent to VND67,300 per share. TPB increased 0.8 per cent to VND25,400 per share with three million shares matched, of which 1.8 million shares were traded during at-the-closing (ATC) session.

Oil and gas stocks also rose, such as PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PVS), PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services Corporation (PVD) and PetroViet Nam Coating JSC (PVB). They all climbed by 0.5 per cent.

However, market indices still could not rebound as the pressure from losing stocks such as Vinamilk (VNM), Vietjet Air (VJC), Phu Nhuan Jewellery (PNJ), PetroVietnam Power Corporation (POW) and Novaland (NVL) was still significant.

Those sector indices declined between 0.15 per cent and 3.62 per cent, data on vietstock.vn showed.

The UPCOM Index on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM) lost 0.27 per cent to finish at 54.97 points. The unlisted market index slipped 0.03 per cent to finish at 55.12 points in the previous session.

According to Bao Viet Securities Company (BVSC), the market is expected to rebound over several sessions. However, the VN-Index’s recovery effort will be challenged by the resistance zone at 960-965 points.

Bank stocks, despite correction pressure, are expected to recover over several sessions. Oil and gas stocks are forecast to incur a technical recovery soon, BVSC said.

BIDV Securities Company (BSC) said in its report that domestic and regional markets were under profit-taking pressure and waited for new supportive information, especially investors' expectation that the US Federal Reserves will announce the possibility of lowering interest rates after a meeting in next week.

Foreign investors on Thursday sold a net VND79.04 billion on HOSE, focusing on Vinhomes (VHM) (VND93.46 billion), Vinamilk (VNM) (VND28.43 billion) and Hoa Phat Group (HPG) (VND24.16 billion). However, they bought a net VND6.66 billion on the HNX. — VNS

The Co.op Food store chain under Saigon Co.op will open four new stores this weekend in Can Tho, Binh Duong, Long An and Ha Noi, raising the total number of its stores to over 400 after more than 10 years in the Vietnamese consumer goods market.